Training
by AngstyShenko
Summary: A 14-year-old Lauren Shepard is sent to BAaT with Kaidan, Rahna and other OC biotics. What is Brain Camp exactly and what does Conatix want to accomplish? The rating is for language.
1. Arrival

The shuttle door opened and 14-year-old Lauren Shepard stepped off, along with a dozen other teenagers. They all looked a bit bewildered at the station where they were now located, thanks to their "unique abilities." That's what the letter from Conatix had said months ago when she opened the mail pad. She quickly trashed it as nothing and planned to keep her biotics under wraps, but then a week ago, her power manifested itself and threw several kids at school into a fountain.

A man and a woman dressed in dark suits arrived at her house later that day. Lauren couldn't hear what they were saying to her parents, but the way her mom was shaking her head, she knew it wasn't good. The next day her mom was crying and helping her pack and her dad was clearing his throat constantly.

"You are going to a special school for kids like you," her mom said gently.

"That sounds like bull—oney, Mom."

"Lauren, this is good for you. It'll help you…control and maybe even use your…gift." Her dad strained at that last word.

Lauren knew that her parents thought she was a freak for being able to glow blue and move things with her mind, and she had every intention of getting as far away from them as she could, so this school sounded like a great idea, after all.

Looking around the station they had called "Jump Zero", she tried hard not to feel lonely. There were dozens of teens milling about in the shuttle bay. Many of the other kids looked as bewildered as she did, but a few had struck up conversations. No one seemed able to leave the loading dock until a door opened and a turian strode through.

"I'm Vyrnnus," he said with no expression in his voice. "This is Biotic Acclimation and Training. I will be your guide to using your biotics with force and accuracy. Although this isn't the military, this will be run like a turian training camp. There are strict guidelines that you will be required to follow. When you arrive in your barracks, you will receive the daily schedule. Any deviation or attempt to delay this schedule will be met with swift punishment. Are there any questions?"

The turian was met with dead silence. A couple of the girls had tears in their eyes. Lauren knew their type. Soft, coddled, their biotics were treated like an accessory rather than a defect. _Likely rich, too_, thought Lauren with disdain.

Some human adults in uniforms were starting to find their way around the teens and handing them their barrack assignments.

"Shepard, Lauren!" one sharp-featured man called. Lauren stepped toward him.

"I'm Lauren Shepard," she said nervously. He thrust a datapad at her.

"You are in Barrack 235, bunk 7. Please go there now. The datapad has the navpoint to guide you."

She glared at the man and skulked away. _So far this is bullshit. Everyone here has a pole up their ass._ Her stomach growled and she remembered she was hungry. She went back to the man and tried to get his attention. "Excuse me?"

"What? Go to your bunk!" He looked annoyed.

"I'm hungry. Is there a snack shop or a place to get a quick bite?"

"What was your name again?"

"Shepard, Laure.."

"Shepard, this is not a resort. We do not cater to you. You are here for training and control. When you arrive at your bunk, there are some protein bars in the room. You may have up to 3 a day...any more and you will be on probation. We will not have hoarders on this station. Do you understand, Shepard?"

"Yes, sir." Lauren was starting to think this whole thing was even worse than a bad idea.

Using the pad, she pretty easily found her room and bunk. She grabbed one of the protein bars and laid down, feeling glad she got a bottom bunk. She lay there chewing when another girl walked in. She was one of the girls who had had tears in her eyes after Vyrnnus got done yelling at them.

She had dark hair, dark eyes, and a beautiful olive complexion. Lauren was instantly jealous of her. The girl's frame was like one of those asari actresses she had seen in movies. Curvy, but still thin. She had breasts and Lauren looked at her own small nubs in disgust. The girl was tall and her clothes looked expensive.

"Hello!" the girl said with an accent that sounded exotic and wonderful and Lauren hated her more. "I'm Rahna Zorlu. Who are you?"

Lauren sat up. "I'm Lauren Shepard." The words came out scratchy because of the food in her mouth. Rahna sat on her bed.

"It's nice to meet you, I'm your bunk buddy!" she said pointing up at the top bunk.

_Hooray._ Lauren tried to smile genuinely, but only a smirk would appear. "That's great. Where are you from?"

"I'm from the EU, Turkey, to be exact. My father owns a lot of media outlets. He also dabbles in movie production. What about you?"

"I'm from the North American Union, the U.S. Um, Chicago, actually. My dad is an Alliance marine."

"Oh, wow! I have some friends whose parents are marines too! Does your dad work groundside or on a ship?"

Lauren was irritated that this Rahna girl even had some military terminology down. "He works groundside. He very rarely gets sent on ship tours."

"Oh, I see." Rahna looked thoughtful. "Well, if you don't mind my asking, we are all here for the same reason. How did you become a biotic? How did you find out?"

"Well, my dad believes it was his fault. He was helping at the docks with a load of eezo. Thinks it must of gotten to his, uh, junk and here I am. I figured it out when I was about 3, I guess. My mom told me to pick up my toys and I thought about it and they moved. It was kind of the best day ever." Lauren relaxed a bit as she recalled that day. "I tossed my toys into the box and thought I was magic. My mom came in and told me what a good girl I was, and I felt like I was a superhero." She smiled genuinely this time.

Rahna did as well. "I don't have nearly the interesting story. My mom was working at a movie set when she was pregnant for me and there was supposed to be an explosion. She said the pyrotechnics guy just discovered eezo and how easily small amounts could make large fireballs. Well, he set one off, and mom was nearby. My whole family figured out I was biotic when I was about 7. I caught a cold, sneezed and blew my entire family out of the living room." She laughed this laugh that was ticklish in Lauren's ears and she couldn't help but laugh herself. _Maybe she isn't so bad after all._

Rahna then grabbed a datapad from her bunk. "Do we have any training together?"

"I don't know," Lauren said slowly. She hadn't even bothered to look at the pad. Just as she looked down at it, a couple other girls entered, chattering loudly. Rahna looked at them and smiled.

"Hey, Kathryn and…Indira, right?" she said to the pair. They nodded. "It says it's about time for lunch. Lauren, how about all of us go and get something to eat?"

Lauren set down her pad and walked to the mess hall with the other three girls. Kathryn seemed to know Rahna already and she was friends with Indira as well. Lauren tuned them out as they walked until she heard the topic of boys come up.

"Have you seen this one guy? Oh, he is so amazing! Tall, blonde, built like an Atlas. I just about died," Kathryn gushed.

"What's his name?" Rahna asked eagerly.

"I thought I heard the guy say Joseph or James…something like that. I couldn't hardly hear over his hotness," Kathryn said in a serious tone as they entered the mess. "Oh my God! There he is!"

Indira and Rahna let out a little gasp, but Lauren saw the guy he was talking to and he made her heart beat a little faster. Curly, dark hair. Eyes of an amber brown. Trim and fit, but not as bulky as the blonde.

Lauren hoped she never would have to talk to him.


	2. Mess Hall

**A/N: Thank you to the new follows and comments! This was an idea that had sat for a little while and writer's block on my other story allowed me to think more about this one.**

The mess hall wasn't unlike the military messes Lauren had been to with her father. This one was just a lot louder because of the age of the occupants. The food actually looked appetizing, so Lauren grabbed a tray and followed Rahna, Kathryn and Indira.

She couldn't help but feel embarrassed when they took a spot near the blonde boy Kathryn had been cooing over. Deciding she had nothing to add to their conversation, Lauren started to eat while contemplating the girls' various features.

Kathryn was a fair-skinned girl like herself. She had a sprinkling of freckles around her nose that made her face look younger than the rest of her body. Her body said adult woman and had the curves to back it up, and Lauren felt another pang of insecurity. Her hair was a dusky blonde and had a light wave to it. When she turned her head, the curls bounced a little. Her light blue eyes were soft and friendly, like a mother.

Indira was as exotic looking as Rahna. Her hair was a chocolate brown and her darker skin was dramatically accented by eyes of a green Lauren had never seen before. Her build was thin and childlike like Lauren's, but she was tall, nearly as tall as the boys they were watching.

The girls whispered excitedly over their lunches while ogling the boys at the next table. "I'll be honest," said Rahna quietly. "I've never seen such a crop of good looking guys. Do you think biotics make them handsome?"

"I'd let them throw me around," Indira piped in dreamily.

"So Kat, there's Blondie over there, but who is his friend?" Rahna asked.

"I don't know, but he came in on my shuttle," Kathryn explained, "so I know he's from Canada. He is nice to look at too. God, have you see his ass? I actually was tempted to grab it when he walked by me getting off the shuttle. It was fine with a capital FINE. But honestly, give me Blondie anyday."

"So how old are you guys?" Lauren's voice squeaked in. The three girls looked at her in surprise. Lauren shrank under their gaze.

"I'm 18," said Kat proudly.

"I'll be 18 in a few months," said Rahna.

"I just turned 15," said Indira. "What about you?"

"I'm 14. Just turned it in April."

Rahna reached around Lauren to give her a big side hug. "Oh, you poor dear! You must be scared out of your mind being in the place far from home! I was already planning on heading to university soon, so to be sent here wasn't much of a difference." Lauren felt even more like a child than she had before. She blushed bright under Rahna's hug and looked away. Her eyes caught the dark haired boy's eyes. _Had he been looking at her?_ Her eyes quickly dropped to the ground. _This is just the beginning of a nightmare_.

x-X-x

17-year-old Kaidan Alenko was bored. He came to the mess hall with his new bunkmate, Jason Mathewson. His muscular physique had obviously caught a group of girls' attention. He watched the four giggle and titter about, throwing sly looks their way. _At least three of them have…_ It was hard not to pay attention to the girls because they were at the very next table doing a terrible job of being secretive about their interest.

Jason, on the other hand, seemed aloof to the attention. Kaidan got the impression that he was used to this reaction from girls back home. He was definitely a product of his upbringing. Jason was a Nebraska farm boy. His body said he had seen a lot of hard, physical labor. Kaidan couldn't help but wonder if his parents used the boy's biotics. He bet that they probably accepted them. Jason's confident attitude seemed genuine and not a cover.

"Hey, Alenko, watch this…I'm going to make those girls go crazy. You done eating? Just follow me," Jason whispered, giving Kaidan a sideways glance. Kaidan chuckled at the idea of teasing the girls. "I'm sure it will be too easy for you, Jase."

Jason got up and walked toward the girls even though the tray return was the other direction. Kaidan followed, but not too closely.

"Hey ladies," Jason said in his deep booming voice. "Hope to see you around." Then he winked their way. The blonde girl gasped. Jason proceeded on to the tray return and Kaidan could hear the small eruption of squeeing that came from the table as he walked away. But before he turned, his eye caught once again with the quiet girl at the table. She looked uncomfortable and Kaidan felt sorry for her. _Poor kid, probably ripped from her parents' arms._

"What did you think of that?" laughed Jason, as they left the mess to head back to their bunks.  
"Those girls probably died right there. To be honest, I wouldn't mind getting to know a couple of them, eh, Alenko? The blonde was nice…" Jason used his hands to trace a curvy silhouette. "But the dark haired one with the dark eyes? Wow. Hot. I may have to bang her."

"Wow, Jason, you sure know how to treat the ladies, don't you?" Kaidan said sarcastically.

"Oh, Alenko, they are girls and who am I to deny them this?" Jason gestured toward his own body. "In fact, I do know how to treat the ladies." Then he made a thrusting motion with his hips and nodded his head. "I've had my fair share of them."

Kaidan sighed and was silent. Jason was a meathead. When he wasn't talking about girls, he seemed nice enough, but Kaidan had always been so awkward around girls that someone with so much…experience was intimidating. He decided that he was going to have nothing to do with Jason getting with any of those girls.

x-X-x

"Oh. My. God. He _talked_ to us! It wasn't a dream, was it?" Kat screeched quietly. "I swear he was looking my way when he said, 'Hope to see you around.' He did, right?"

"Hardly, he was looking at me," Indira protested. "I'm sure of it. He looked directly in my eyes. I think he even checked out my boobs."

"Oh, you children, he totally looked at me," Rahna said assuredly. "I'm glad I wore this shirt today. I always thought it made me look sexy."

"So we're at an impasse," said Kat. "We are going to have to do something about this. I like you girls and I don't think we should let boys come between us. So, paper, rock, scissors? The losers can do it again for the dark haired hottie."

"Sure," Rahna and Indira agreed. "You in, Lauren?" asked Rahna.

Lauren's eyes got big. "No, I-I've got a guy back home," she lied.

"Fantastic!" Kat exclaimed. "Glad I'm a single woman. I'll count…one, two, three, shoot!"

The three threw their hands out. All rocks. "Ok, one more time…one, two, three, shoot!"

Kat and Indira threw rocks again, and Rahna threw paper. "Yes! I win! Here I come, Blondie!" she laughed giddily.

Indira pouted quickly, then brightened. "Ok, Kat, you and me for Mr. Nice Ass. One, two, three…shoot!" Kat threw scissors and Indira threw paper. Kat giggled victoriously. "I don't think today is turning out to be such a bad day after all!"


	3. Testing

Lauren had settled back on her bunk after lunch. She was feeling full and sleepy. A nap sounded like a good idea. The chatter between Rahna, Kat, and Indira didn't stop, but became a low droning as Lauren's eyes began to flutter closed.

_She could see him from a distance standing at the far end of the room, his dark curly hair falling casually over his brow. She wanted to talk to him to just say hello. His amber brown eyes turned towards her and she felt them lock with hers. They glided toward each other inexplicably. She was drawn to him and she didn't even know his name. Without even a hello, his hand caught her waist and drew her close. She felt his breath on her face. She would die for just a touch of his lips, and it seemed like she was going to, if she could just get a little closer…_

A loud buzzer rang through the room. "Barracks 230 through 240, please report to the workout area for ability testing. You have 5 minutes," a voice ordered. Lauren sat up groggily and yawned.

"Do you guys know how to get to this room?" she asked.

"It looks like it just came up on our datapads," said Rahna. "We'd better go."

The girls hurried to the large, open room where a sizeable group of teens were standing. Lauren heard an audible squeal from Rahna as her eyes fell on the blonde boy and his dark haired companion.

"This must mean they bunk near us! Yay!" she whispered excitedly. "I'm going over to talk to him."

Lauren watched Rahna saunter over to the pair, watching both boys eye her obviously. Rahna paid direct attention to the blonde boy, but it seemed the dark haired one wanted to be noticed. Lauren wondered what she was saying to them as she smiled and touched the blonde boy's arm flirtatiously. She wanted to walk over there and be brave and talk to boys…

"Attention!" It was Vyrnnus. Lauren couldn't exactly determine turian facial expressions, but she thought he was pissed. "We are here to sort you out into groups based on your biotic abilities. We are here to determine strength right now, so do not hold back. Do what you can do. Impress me."

That last sentence from Vyrnnus sounded like a dare. Lauren didn't know why, but he made her burn with anger. Maybe it was because of history class and the First Contact War. Maybe he didn't look trustworthy.

A soft-featured woman held a datapad and called out the first name. "Alenko, Kaidan." Lauren looked and saw the dark haired boy walk forward. It looked like they were going to be watched by the entire group. Her stomach filled with butterflies and she knew she had to wait all the way until the S's.

Vyrnnus looked at Kaidan and tossed a medicine ball on the floor in front of him. "Throw this ball as far and as hard as you can." The boy flared blue and took one step back with his foot. Lauren watched with more than just a little interest as he threw his arm out in front him and the 20 lb. medicine ball flew from the floor where he was on one end of the room and slammed hard into the wall about 15 feet up on the other end.

Lauren saw the blonde boy whistle and exclaim, "Damn, Alenko!" His biotic flare fading, Kaidan smiled proudly and walked back to where he and Rahna were standing.

The woman started calling other names. Lauren saw that some of the teen apparently either didn't have the strength or didn't know what to with their biotics. Some barely moved the ball a meter and others just moved the ball up instead of throwing it.

"Danielson, Kathryn." Kat took her place by the ball. She looked nervous as she began to glow blue. She threw both arms out in front of her and the ball moved about halfway across the room. Her face began to flush red as she noticed that her nose was bleeding. Hiding her face, she quickly walked back toward where Lauren and Indira waited.

"I hate when I do that," she hissed. "It's so humiliating to do this and then bust a vessel. I don't like using my biotics at all, but my dad forced me here. I'd get rid of this biotic shit if I could." Wiping her nose with the tissue offered by one of the adults, she looked thoughtfully over to where Rahna was.

"Do you think he noticed me?" Kat asked.

"Who?" Lauren said dully. She didn't care about Kat getting her hands on…Kaidan, that was his name.

"I don't know," said Indira. "He was talking with Rahna when you were taking your turn."

Kat pouted a bit and wiped her nose again. "I'm going over there," she said resolutely. "Sometimes a woman's got to make the first move."

"Good luck!" Indira said encouragingly. Lauren just watched her go. Her mind had been in a strange place since that dream she had in her bunk. It was so quick, but so vivid. She felt like it was real and that she could really go over to him and just kiss him like they had been together forever. But she was also a realist, knowing her shyness wouldn't let her even say hello to him.

"Kuthari, Indira." Indira stood stock still, her eyes wide.

"It's ok, Indi, go on. Show them what you've got," Lauren said, squeezing the girl's hand.

"Thanks, Lauren."

The tall girl took her place and Vyrnnus crossed his arms skeptically, like he had with most of the other kids. Indira's body was soon covered in a blue corona and her normally friendly face was set like flint. She waved one arm around and raised the ball to shoulder height, then as she thrust her arm forward, the ball took off like a shot. It hit the wall, much like Kaidan's had. _Maybe not quite as much force_, Lauren thought.

Indira's face also flushed like Kat's had, but hers wasn't from embarrassment. She was giddy as she returned to Lauren. "I've never done anything like that before! My grandparents were always scared of me, saying I was some devil. I would let out a little power now and then when they weren't around, but nothing like that! It was wonderful!"

"You did great, Indi. I'm sure that turian was impressed." Indi and Lauren turned then to see how Kat and Rahna were faring with their male conquests. Rahna seemed to be doing just fine, if the way the blonde guy was leaning toward her was any indication. Kat seemed to not be gaining the interest of Kaidan. He kept looking over toward Rahna. She was beautiful; there was no denying that.

"Mathewson, Jason." The blonde boy smirked and took his place near the ball. After a bit of posturing, his face took on a firm look and his biotic power came to life. With a motion like a fast-pitch softball pitcher, Jason threw his arm. The medicine ball flew quickly and hit the wall. It wasn't a pounding noise like Kaidan's or even Indira's. It was more like a light bounce.

Jason seemed pleased with himself despite what Lauren thought was a disappointing display. He promptly walked back to Rahna and she obligingly cooed over him. "Wow, Jason, you definitely have some power," she said, adding emphasis on the last word. The innuendo was not lost on the young man. "Indeed, I do. I'll have to show you a little more of it some time." He leaned in close and touched her cheek. Rahna blushed and giggled. Kaidan, who had been standing there silently, sighed in annoyance.

He gazed around the room at the other teenagers, hoping to find another friendly face. He didn't want to pick up girls here. Not since Rahna wouldn't even give him the time of day. Kat had become silent and he was glad she had finally quit talking. Right now all he wanted was a friend…one that didn't have a one-track mind. Kaidan slowly edged himself away from the oblivious pair and a slightly dejected looking Kat. Arms folded in front of him, he started to walk around the perimeter of the crowd.

"Shepard, Lauren!" Lauren startled at the sound of her name. She walked to the line, keeping a close eye on the turian. She hoped that one day she could read turian facial expressions. His still pissed her off. He made a gesture toward her to start. She closed her eyes and loosed all the internal blocks she kept to hold her biotics in. Her mind lit up with its electric tingle. Taking a deep breath, she focused on the medicine ball and launched it at the wall. The ball hit with a slam so hard, it remained lodged in the hole it created. The turian's mandibles moved slightly and Lauren looked him straight on, only letting a slight smile creep onto her face for a second. _Take that, you turian bastard._

The crowd hushed when they heard the loud thump from the ball. As she walked back to her place by Indira, the dark-haired boy…Kaidan, approached her. "Wow, that was really impressive. Do you think they can get the ball back out of the wall?" His smile was gentle. Lauren felt immediately flushed.

"I-I don't know. I didn't think about that."

"Do you have an amp? Or did you just do that naturally?" Kaidan tapped the back of his neck and turned showing Lauren a thin scar.

"My parents kept my biotics under wraps. I'm supposed to get one here for free, they said."

"That's amazing. With an amp, you could probably throw twice as hard. Bust this station to hell. When you do, let me know first, so I can escape," he chuckled. Lauren liked his laugh.

"I have an amp," the quiet Indira suddenly said. "I have an L2."

Kaidan smiled at her with the same smile he had given Lauren. "So am I. How are you doing with it? I get headaches like you wouldn't believe."

"Ok, so far, I guess. I think I was lucky. Haven't had any side effects." Indira blushed and seemed surprised that she was even talking to this guy. Lauren felt the same way, but she wouldn't let her face show it. This guy was about as perfect of a specimen of man that she had ever seen. She wanted to run away, but she didn't want him to leave. She tried to think of something else to talk about.

"Do you like our friend Kat?" she blurted out quickly. "She likes you."

His eyes turned back to her and she felt like a spotlight was burning on her. "Uh, y-yeah, she seems…nice," he stuttered. Kaidan didn't want to tell this girl that her friend was annoying as hell. "W-well, I don't know you two. What are your names? You are both friends with Kat and Rahna, right?"

Lauren hated the way he said Rahna's name. It sounded like rainbows and sunshine and probably unicorns shitting jellybeans. He was attracted to her. Her mind burned with jealousy and she quickly looked toward where Rahna was now whispering into the blonde boy's ear while holding his one hand with both of hers. "Yeah, I guess you could say we are friends," Lauren said. "We all share a bunk room. I'm Lauren Shepard."

"I'm Indira Kuthari. It's nice to meet you." Indira stuck her hand out. Kaidan took it in a firm shake. Lauren noticed that Indira didn't seem all too quick to release his hand either.

"It's nice to meet you both as well. What barrack are you in? Jason and I are in 230."

Indira was gleeful. "We're in 235. So we must be just around the corner from you!"

"How do you think they'll do lights out? Will they lock us in our rooms?" Lauren wondered aloud.

"I hope not. We could come visit you!" Indira's eyes never left Kaidan.

He shifted his weight uncomfortably under her gaze. "I-uh, haven't read all the rules yet. Don't want that turian getting pissed and airlocking us!" Kaidan smiled as he tried to dodge the subject.

"Zorlu, Rahna!" Kaidan's eyes quickly looked to where the beautiful girl was making her way to the line. Vyrnnus tossed the ball toward her wordlessly. Rahna gave a mighty shout as she threw a burst of energy toward the ball. It flew through the air, hitting the wall near Lauren's hole. Blood gushed from her nose and she started to shake. Lauren saw her go pale and fall to the ground.

A few of the human adults ran to her aid. Vyrnnus remained where he was looking skeptical as ever. Kaidan quickly moved past the girls without so much as a goodbye. He rushed up and kneeled at Rahna's side. One of the adults gave her a quick injection and Rahna's eyes popped open. She sat up quickly and looked right at Kaidan.

"What happened?" she asked.

"You passed out after you threw the ball," Kaidan said softly, his hand on her arm, giving her support.

"Oh, wow. How embarrassing…" She rubbed her face and smeared the blood that had started to dry under her nose. Lauren snickered at how it made her look, but she was still intolerably jealous of her. _He_ was touching her! _He _was concerned about her!

Lauren turned and started to leave the room with the rest of the teens. Vyrnnus called out after them. "You will be put into classes based on your skills. Your class assignments will be on your datapads tomorrow morning after breakfast. You have free time until dinner."

She turned back to see Kaidan walking away with Rahna, his arm around her waist. Jason was at her side as well. _That's it,_ Lauren thought. _You are not my friend._

**A/N: Sorry about the long wait for a new chapter. I haven't abandoned this! Ideas are simmering!**


	4. Amped

Lauren sat nervously in a room that looked like a doctor's office. She had been at what everyone was now calling "Brain Camp" for nearly 3 weeks. She was put into a class with Indira, Rahna, Kaidan and two other guys, Corvick Azarov and Joel Young. Vyrnnus was the "teacher" of their particular class. He told them they had the most advanced biotics of all the kids there and he was going to make sure that they used them to their full potential. Lauren couldn't stand listening to his multi-tonal droning about mnemonic movements to draw up specific powers.

Now, she was waiting her turn to get her amp. Apparently, lots of others had parents similar to hers and they resisted Conatix's advances when offered the amps in previous years. She hated doctors. Her parents had pleaded with her to never mention her "unique abilities," and to "please for God's sake, do not turn blue when you sneeze again, you frighten people."

"Lauren Shepard, please come in," the soft-voiced woman said, interrupting her thoughts and leading her down a hallway to a small exam room. "I'm Jeannine. We are going to be putting the newest biotic amp into the back of your neck. It's called an L3. The shots I give you to numb the area will hurt badly, I won't lie. But you shouldn't feel anything else during the procedure. Please tell me if you do. Ok? Ready to go?"

"Sure," Lauren muttered. Jeannine motioned for her lay on her stomach on the exam bed. Lauren placed her face in the pillow and thought about class earlier that day. Vyrnnus was giving the "Basics of Protection." That got more than a few giggles and snickers from the group. No one in the class took him seriously after they had talked together about their own personal introductions to the turian. Each of them met with him in his office and he told them that he had killed their fathers. Lauren had told him to go fuck himself. His eyes narrowed in response, but he didn't do or say anything. _Probably can't touch me._ She smiled into the pillow at the memory.

A sharp sting coursed thought Lauren's neck and she hissed in pain. She tried very hard not to let her biotic power erupt in defense. "You ok?" Jeannine asked. "Yeah," Lauren muttered. Another sharp sting and she felt her neck go numb. She relaxed her body and thought about class again.

x-X-x

"Most of you will end up going into the military. Don't fool yourselves about that," Vyrnnus had said. "Your biotic barrier will be what lets you survive when the regular soldiers fall." The turian pulled out a pistol. That caught everyone's attention. "In actual combat, your enemies use real ammunition, but because you are kids and soft, and Conatix is paying me, I'll be using fake ammo. This will be a paired exercise."

Lauren looked at Indira and smiled. She had become a good friend because they both were so awkward around guys. Indira was just about to reach out to touch Lauren's shoulder when Vyrnnus walked between them. "Here are the pairs…Zorlu and Young, Kuthari and Azarov, Shepard and Alenko."

_Girl, boy, girl, boy, girl, boy…damnit, _Lauren thought. _Of course it had to be even. _ She turned back to look where Rahna was sitting by Kaidan. Ever since she passed out after the testing, Kaidan hadn't left her side and Rahna seemed to like it, even to the point that she no longer was interested in Jason.

Vyrnnus loaded his gun and looked what Lauren had come to think was disinterested. "Ok, Zorlu, Young, over there. Throw up a joint barrier and we'll see how good it is."

Rahna looked confident and took Joel by the shoulder. Because Joel was barely 13, she was probably a head taller than he was, and the boy was easily moved. They knelt together and Rahna threw up a barrier first. Joel followed suit and Vyrnnus lowered his gun and fired. Three rapid shots.

Their barrier went down. Joel cried out and tumbled back, frightened, clutching his shoulder. "Unacceptable," said Vyrnnus as he lowered his gun, not even looking at the pair. "Have to be able to take more than three shots. Armor can take that many. Next pair, Kuthari, Azarov."

Rahna looked disappointed, but not concerned about the teary-eyed boy next to her on the ground. She stood and went back to slump in her seat, making a pouty face at Kaidan, but not saying a word. Joel steeled himself and walked stiffly to his desk. His embarrassment was apparent and he laid his head on his arms, looking around nervously.

Indira and Corvick looked more closely matched. With a nod from Corvick, the pair threw up a barrier at the same time. Vyrnnus began firing his gun. He shot six times rapidly before the gun overheated. He let it cool and fired again. The barrier failed at shot 11, and Vyrnnus nodded begrudgingly.

"Fine," he said waving the pair on. "You may take your seat. It looks as if you are adequate in this skill. I will give you a more difficult challenge next time. Shepard, Alenko. Up."

Lauren got up and made her way to the cleared area. She nervously eyed Kaidan. She hadn't talked to him since the day of their testing and Rahna had so occupied his time that she doubted he'd noticed. As they crouched to the ground, Kaidan placed his hand on her shoulder, whispering. "Put your hand on mine. I think that this will help our biotics combine. Neither of the other pairs did this. I think he's looking for that. We'll go up on 3, ok?" Lauren nodded and put her arm on his shoulder. She tried not to let her face flush at his touch. Kaidan counted and they raised their barrier.

Lauren would always feel her skin prickle with the sensation of her biotics humming, but with the added power of Kaidan, she felt the very nerve fibers in her body light up. It was like a cool breeze was flying through her, as if her skin wasn't there. It was exhilarating.

Vyrnnus had put down the pistol he had been firing for the others. This time he had an assault rifle. He loaded it and fired. The blast rang out and made Lauren flinch. She heard a little ping as the shot bounced off the barrier. Her eyes met Kaidan's as she looked to see if he had heard it. "Live ammo," Kaidan said through his teeth. "The bastard's shooting to kill." He gripped her shoulder harder and she felt a stronger wave of biotics rush through her. Her eyes narrowed and she followed his lead, giving a boost to her own output.

Vyrnnus still looked bored as he reloaded and aimed to fire again. "This," he said as he fired again, "is what a good barrier looks like. In fact, exceptional." He put the rifle down and walked toward the pair. "But anyone can walk through." He shoved Lauren with his foot, knocking her off-balance. She fell and the barrier broke. She looked at him in disbelief. He stared right back. "You should have thrown me before I ever got close enough," he said with disapproval. "You're good enough to handle that."

Kaidan stood and offered Lauren a hand to help her up. She took it, but never took her eyes off the turian. With still no inflection of emotion in his voice, Vyrnnus cocked his head to the side and looked at both of them. "You two, you are special. We need to explore your power."

A voice broke in through the station's comm system. "Lauren Shepard, please report to the infirmary to get fitted with your amp."

The turian's mandibles flared. "Unamped? Impressive. I expect to see more from you. Maybe you aren't just bluster after all."

Lauren turned to go and realized she was still clutching Kaidan's hand. She let go of it quickly, blushing, and rushed out of the room.

x-X-x

"Ok, we're all done here," Jeannine said cheerfully. Go on back to your bunk. Your neck will be sore for a few days, but let us know if you get any migraines or loss of vision. Keep your biotics off for about 12 hours or so. Tomorrow, you'll be, well, improved."

She left the room and walked back down the hallway to make her way to her bunk. When she got to the waiting room, Kaidan was there, his head buried in his hands.

"Hey, are you ok?" she asked quietly. He looked up and weakly smiled.

"Yeah, I will be. A migraine. That's all. How about you?"

"My neck is numb, so I'm fine." She reached back and felt the tackiness of medigel at the base of her hair.

"I can't believe that guy shot at us with real ammunition!" Kaidan said loudly, then moaned and grabbed his head. "Son of a bitch…I got all worked up from that barrier and thinking he could kill us and that brought on this. Damn turian."

"Yeah…" Lauren's voice trailed off. "Why do you think he said we were special?"

"Honestly? You because you're the strongest biotic I've seen here. Me…I don't know. Maybe because I'm smart enough to figure out his tricks."

"Well, it was pretty cool, you figuring out that we should touch to have a better barrier."

"Nah, it was just common sense. If you understand any tech stuff, it'll make sense," Kaidan said plainly.

Lauren smiled. "I hope you feel better."

"Yeah, thanks. Uh, you too. Getting an amp can be a real bitch for a while."

"Thanks…" Lauren stopped at the door. "Hey, Kaidan, did you…?" _Did you like combining biotics with me? Did it feel great to you?_

"Did I what?"

"Did you feel bad that you weren't paired up with Rahna? I didn't mean to…"

"Hey, it's just Vyrnnus. He's an ass. And, no, I didn't. Actually, I'm glad he gave us the challenge. You're a nice girl, and a phenomenal biotic." Kaidan smiled and got up to leave as a nurse called him in. "I like you."

"You seem pretty nice too." Lauren smiled and walked away.


	5. Special Training

It was 5 a.m. and Lauren was still sleeping when her datapad beeped. All the teens had quickly learned that their datapad was everything here at Brain Camp. It was alarm clock, mail, instant messaging to others after lights out, letters home…and this time it was an urgent message from…Vyrnnus? Lauren groaned and quickly got up. She quietly dressed and rushed to get to the room to which she was summoned.

She was hungry and her stomach growled when she opened the door and saw two large plates of breakfast sitting at a table in the classroom. Vyrnnus was standing there, grouchy as ever, arms crossed. "Shepard," he acknowledged. She nodded at him, her eyes blinking at the bright fluorescent light. "I had your breakfast brought here. Eat up. You are going to need it. Your biotics are going to be taxed this morning."

Lauren sat down mutely, hoping that this stuff wasn't poisoned. She wouldn't put anything past that turian. As she started to eat, the door opened. It was Kaidan. His hair was fuzzy and disheveled. His haphazard manner of dressing matched Lauren's. Vyrnnus gave him the same greeting and speech about food and taxed biotics.

Kaidan smiled as he sat down across from her. "Hey, pretty damn early, eh?" he said as he began shoveling food in his mouth. Lauren raised her eyebrows in affirmation. She swallowed and spoke. "Why are we here?" she whispered.

"Remember the other day in class? He said something about seeing what we can do. I bet this is it."

"Hurry up, you two. We have a whole hell of a lot of things to do and your chit chat is wasting precious time," Vyrnnus scolded.

Lauren rolled her eyes. She had forgotten about that, or maybe she just hoped he was bluffing. She chugged her orange juice and looked at the turian. "Where should I put my plate?"

"Spirits, you humans are pathetic. Always needing guidance. We should have blasted your race back a hundred years," Vyrnnus complained. "Someone will come in here and get them. Now, when you both are done, I want you to practice your barriers again."

Kaidan looked at Lauren with a furrowed brow. She knew what he meant. There would be live ammunition again, and this time there were no witnesses. They got up and walked to where the turian pointed. Kneeling like last time, they placed their hands on each other's shoulders and brought up a barrier.

Vyrnnus had several weapons at his disposal and proceeded to use each and every one of them, firing until each overheated. Then, just like in class, he started walking toward the pair. Lauren wouldn't let him get the best of her this time. She took her free hand and lobbed a weak throw at him. The turian stumbled a bit, but quickly recovered. He took another step in time to be thrown off his feet, falling face first.

Kaidan whispered to Lauren. "Don't worry about that. Your aim will get better. Right now we're a team. I've got your back." She smiled back in appreciation.

As Vyrnnus stood up again, he put down the gun in his hand. "Very well, you did enough that your fellow soldiers could have finished me off. Shepard, poor form. You're going to have to work on multitasking your biotics. Barrier can work with multiple biotics, but you have to learn how to let it fall into the background of your mind."

For the next hour, Vyrnnus allowed himself to be tossed around like a ragdoll by Kaidan and Lauren's biotics. Each and every time he got back up and maintained his disdainful attitude. It irritated Lauren and she started boosting her power, throwing him harder and further. It seemed to have no effect. When she gave him a particularly powerful throw, he stood up and without warning summoned his own biotics, throwing her back into the wall. She shook her head and started to rise, but was instantly frozen.

"Stasis," he said flatly. "Makes enemies easy pickings for your fellow troops. Or makes you the very same thing for theirs. Standing still is weakness. Always move ahead, even when the enemy is charging." His words burned in Lauren's ears and her hatred for the turian only grew.

A tone sounded meaning first class would start soon. Vyrnnus sighed irritably. "I guess you must leave now. We will be doing this again tomorrow and every day after that until I determine you have mastered…something. Go."

A turian true to his word, Kaidan and Lauren were awoke early the next morning by their pads and put through their biotic paces. Vyrnnus was relentless, using stronger weapons and different tactics. Lauren thought he was actually trying to make them angry. With her, she knew it was working. Kaidan seemed unaffected.

Lauren would lie down at night thinking about his calm demeanor. She liked the camaraderie they'd developed, and she couldn't help but feel attracted to him. Her body would ache from the beatings she took when she awoke, but seeing Kaidan's messy hair and shy smile in the mornings made it all worth it. He would urge her on and she felt like they were actually a team. Them against the universe…or at least Vyrnnus.

One day, they were training in the shooting range, but they weren't doing the shooting. Vyrnnus along with several adults in armor had them pinned down behind a crate in the corner of the room. Lauren hissed in frustration. "All he wants to do is kill us! Fucking turian!"

Kaidan grabbed her arm tightly. "Hey!" he shouted. "Lauren, pull it together." He leaned around the side of the crate, throwing a couple of the adults back, but he didn't let go of her. Looking straight into her eyes, he spoke firmly. "He is trying to break us. He hates humans so badly that he wants the best they've got to turn out to be weak. You aren't weak. You are the strongest woman I know. Now prove it to them."

His grip had loosened and now his hand was just holding hers. She thought for a split second that she felt his thumb brush across her fingers, but she dropped it as she summoned a stasis field, holding the last three humans in place. Kaidan followed suit, freezing Vyrnnus where he stood. The pair stood up from behind the crate and walked out the door.

"We're going to be late to class," Lauren said coldly. They could hear Vyrnnus snort in response.

x-X-x

At lunch, Lauren was sitting with Indira, but she wasn't talking. She was deep in thought about what had happened that morning. Had he touched her affectionately? No, it was all in her mind, she told herself. But she wanted so badly to believe it was true.

"Earth to Lauren!" Indira's voice broke through her thoughts. "Where are you?"

"Oh, I'm just really tired. All this early morning crap with Vyrnnus…"

"And Kaidan!" said Indira playfully. "I'm so jealous. First Rahna gets all his attention in class, now you've got a class with him all to yourself! It's just not fair."

"It's not a big deal, Indi. We're getting shot at and basically playing war. If my parents knew about this…they'd lose their shit. And besides, there's totally nothing going on between me and Kaidan. I'm sure he's all about Rahna."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right," conceded Indira. "Still I wouldn't mind a little war with him. I mean, is he protecting you? There's got to be a little romantic sense to that."

"Indi, you are such a mushy sap!" Lauren laughed.

"Maybe, but I'm not striking out with Joel. He held my hand last night in the common room."

"I'm not trying, remember?" Lauren frowned. "Wait, what? Really? Wow! That's awesome! Tell me all about it!"

Indira started chattering about the previous evening's events as Kaidan approached the pair. "Hey Lauren, Indira," he smiled. "Mind if I sit with you?"

Lauren's smile faded. "Where's Rahna? She hasn't been in here yet."

"Uh, I don't know," Kaidan said in between bites. "She has that cooking class before this. Maybe she ate there? She didn't answer my text." Lauren thought he looked disappointed.

"So Kaidan, how's your special training with Lauren going?" Indira asked. "Is it really as intense as she says it is?"

"Probably. She's a really amazing biotic. You should see her in action." He was looking in Lauren's direction. "Lauren has a lot going for her." His sideways glance and crooked smile made Lauren's heart thump awkwardly.

Kaidan quickly finished and left the girls still sitting. "He totally likes you," Indira whispered.

"What? Bullshit," Lauren protested. "Never in a million years."

"No, there's something there. I can see it. He smiles at you in a way he doesn't to Rahna. I can't say exactly what, but it's like he's all the way here with you. I don't know…mentally or something."

Lauren smiled and said nothing.


	6. Free Time

Kaidan felt a nervous lump form in his throat. His heart was pounding and his mouth had gone dry, but he couldn't swallow. He wouldn't swallow for fear of looking stupid. She was standing so close to him that he could feel her breath on his face. The look in her eyes was so alluring that he didn't realize they had stopped talking. Instinctually, he leaned in, closing his eyes. His lips met hers and they were full and warm like he'd imagined. He hoped she couldn't feel how terrified he was. This was his first kiss.

When Kaidan discovered he was a biotic, his parents were somewhat supportive, but his already introverted ways became more entrenched. As a small child, that just meant that he was quiet and liked to play alone. As he entered puberty, it turned into near isolation, especially after getting that L2 implant. He especially feared girls for the specific reason of knowing what happened when he became aroused. That now innate behavior changed after these few months in Brain Camp.

He'd seen that his physical manifestations of biotic power were no longer strange to the other kids here. There had been more than a few awkward occurrences of biotic discharges from others that Kaidan understood completely. No one was a freak here, save the turian, and he liked that feeling of comfort and acceptance. This was why he took a chance, finally, after nearly 18 years. _With Rahna_.

Her arms wrapped around his neck and he pulled her waist toward his. She was exciting and he hoped for many more times like this. His hands moved under her shirt to touch the smooth skin of her back. Electric blue waves of energy flowed off both of them. Kaidan felt free. He deepened the kiss, and his body began to beg for more.

A door opened loudly and there was a gasp. Kaidan and Rahna quickly turned their heads toward the noise. The quiet, empty hallway they were in was empty no longer. About 3 meters away stood Lauren Shepard. Her mouth was open, but her eyes quickly went to the floor. "Um…sorry," she said, then quickly walked away.

When Lauren was out of sight, Rahna looked back at Kaidan. She smiled at him gently. "That was nice," she said. Her fingers were stroking the back of his neck, making his implant site tingle. He smiled back, but suddenly it didn't feel genuine. "Yeah." He hoped his voice didn't sound as insincere as he now felt. Why was he feeling guilty?

He eased himself a step back from Rahna, giving her a quick kiss on her hand. "I have to go. I lost track of time. I'll see you later in class."

"Absolutely," she said quietly, grinning.

Kaidan turned and followed the direction that Lauren seemed to be headed just a few minutes prior. Why did her seeing them bother him?

x-X-x

Lauren walked as quickly down the hallway as she could without looking like she was running away from Kaidan and Rahna. It was humiliating to come across a pair of teens making out, but these two in particular made it unbearable. For reasons Lauren didn't understand, she felt wounded and tears began stinging her eyes. This shouldn't have been a surprise to her in the least bit. She saw the way they acted together in class every day. But she also saw him every morning herself, didn't she? She shook her head resolutely. _Of course all of that meant nothing._

She found the doorway to the running track and turned in. At least here she could actually run away from her problems. Grateful she was already in her sweats and tank, she started a slow jog around the track. She needed to get that sight out of her mind. She let her steady footfalls start a chant in her mind. _I don't care. I don't care. I don't care._

Indira was on the far side of the track, so Lauren picked up her pace to catch up with her, but as she started to take off a hand grabbed her shoulder and spun her around. It was Kaidan. Lauren smiled lamely. "I'm really sorry about barging in on you two. You'll need to find a better hiding spot next time," she said.

"Yeah, that's why I'm here…," Kaidan began, but he really didn't know why he was there.

Lauren turned and kept walking on the track with Kaidan trailing her. "Maybe you should talk with your bunkmate, Jason. I know he and Kat have a few places they like to go. I hear about it every night. It's cool, Kaidan. Rahna's great. She's perfect for you." Lauren just wanted to escape, but Kaidan got a hold of her elbow this time, stopping her.

"Hey, I'm trying to talk to you," he said. "Just let me finish, ok?"

The girl crossed her arms impatiently. "Fine. Talk."

Kaidan scratched the back of his neck. He really didn't know what he wanted to say. Should he apologize? Why _would_ he apologize? He'd done nothing wrong, but for God's sake, _why_ did he feel like he had?

"I, uh, I just wanted you to know that I'm not like Jason. I don't move in on girls like that. So…"

"So Rahna's in _good hands._ I know, Kaidan. I saw." Lauren rolled her eyes and took a step away. "I should go."

Kaidan's face went dark. "Then go. People get tired of the chip on your shoulder, you know. Nobody here owes you anything, so stop acting like a goddamn spoiled brat."

Her eyes flashed in anger. "I'm not a brat, and you know it. Maybe I'm just tired of being a freak among freaks. I thought since you were singled out too that maybe we had something in common, but I guess not. I hoped too much."

His eyebrows crinkled in confusion. "Hoped for what?"

"Shit," she whispered, then looked straight at him and demanded, "Just get the hell away from me!"

"Hey, you know that I was serious at lunch. You are an amazing person. I'd kick anyone's ass who talked bad about you. I care about you," Kaidan said cautiously. "You-you're like a little sister to me."

"Thanks," Lauren said sarcastically. "I don't need your protection. Go take care of Rahna, if you need that so badly." She quickly walked away and this time Kaidan didn't pursue.

x-X-x

Back in their bunk, Indira saw quietly while Lauren fumed. "Why does this make me so pissed? I had no claim on him. If anything, Rahna has had most of his attention, right?"

"I'm sorry, Lauren," Indira said quietly. "What I said at lunch didn't help either. I guess this is just something everyone has to go through at some point in their lives."

"It doesn't make it suck any less though."

Indira nodded silently, her face creased with concern. "What are you going to do tomorrow morning?"

"Oh hell…," Lauren whined, staring up at the ceiling. "I forgot about that. I guess I'm going to work on my own, whether he wants to be a team or not. Up until now I had always been alone in life. He was just a little bump in the road." She faced Indira. "I decided I am going into the Alliance Navy after all this. Then I can kick ass legitimately. I'm not letting any jackass guy get in my way."

"Good for you!" Indira agreed. Her smile was true but her face was pale.

"Indi, are you ok?"

"Actually, I'm getting a pretty bad headache. Can you help me get to the infirmary?"

Lauren wrapped her arm under the taller girl's shoulders and helped support her weight.

"Let's hurry," Indira said unsteadily. "This is getting really bad fast."

**A/N: Thank you to all my new favorites and follows! I'm so pleased you are enjoying this...hopefully as much as I am writing it!**


	7. Making it Personal

Indira looked too peaceful, too still, lying on the infirmary bed, sedated so she wouldn't hurt anyone or herself. With red, watery eyes, Lauren kept vigil at her side. "You have to be ok, Indi," she whispered desperately. "I don't have anyone else."

A nurse walked in with a sad look in her eyes. "I'm sorry, but you are going to have to go back to your bunk now. Her family has been contacted."

Lauren nodded quietly and left the room. As she headed back to her bunk, all she could see in her mind was Indira, one minute quietly bearing the pain, and the next lashing out wildly, her biotics flinging Lauren to the floor. Adults came running at the sound of the crash. Even with four of them, they couldn't contain the flailing Indira. Only after Lauren used her newly developed stasis skill could they move her to a room in the infirmary.

The room was dark as Lauren entered. She tiptoed to not wake the others, but Rahna and Kat were huddled together on Lauren's bunk, their faces illuminated by a datapad. "Is she going to be ok?" Kat asked tentatively.

"I don't know. No one would tell me anything. They put her on a heavy dose of some drugs. I guess her family was told," Lauren replied as she sat down beside them.

"What happened?" asked Rahna.

"We were in here, just talking. Well, I was talking. She was mostly being quiet. Then she said she needed to get to the infirmary because she had a terrible headache. After that, she just went crazy. Her eyes weren't the same. It was like she wasn't there. I don't know…" Tears filled Lauren's eyes again and her throat felt like it was swelling shut. "I just need to lie down, guys," she choked out.

Kat got up and moved to Indira's empty bunk. Rahna sat back down beside Lauren and stroked her hair. "I know you two were close. She's a good friend to all of us. I'm sure she'll be ok…" Rahna's voice wavered with emotion. Suddenly, Lauren didn't care who Rahna was seeing or kissing as she sat up in her bed and wrapped her arms around the older girl and wept. Right now, she just needed a friend.

x-X-x

When Lauren's datapad beeped at 5 a.m., she had only been asleep for about 3 hours. Her body was stiff from the awkward way she had been lying and her eyes felt sticky and dry. She got up anyway and washed her face in an attempt to look normal. The walk from her bunk to the large room she was summoned to was too short and before she knew it she could see Kaidan already having breakfast and Vyrnnus with his usual condescending look.

Vyrnnus gave Lauren a nod as she approached the table to eat. He looked almost…pleased? _He must like seeing us miserable._ As she sat, Kaidan didn't even look up, but continued to finish his breakfast. Both remained silent through the meal. When Lauren choked down what little she could muster up to eat, Vyrnnus placed his hands on her shoulders.

"I feel like I've been allowing you to make it too easy. I'm a turian. Naturally, you would…dislike me. It's easy to fight against me, to summon the strength to hurt me. Today, I'm going to pit you against each other. More than likely you will be taking on rogue human factions anyway as soldiers, and biotics will no doubt be part of them. You must learn how to face them…how to face each other." Vyrnnus' mandibles spread in a creepy look of pleasure. "Alenko, you take that side of the room. Shepard, over there. For now, it will be just a capture the flag exercise."

"This just had to get worse and worse," Lauren muttered to herself as she walked over to where her flag stood. She made some mental preparations as she looked across the room at Kaidan and waited for Vyrnnus' signal.

x-X-x

Kaidan didn't want to take on Lauren. Rahna had messaged him about Indira in the middle of the night, so he knew she was emotionally broken. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt her physically, but he was afraid he might not have a choice. The way Lauren was glaring at him from across the room was disconcerting. She looked wild and her biotics were already beginning to manifest on her skin.

At Vyrnnus' wave, they both threw up barriers. Lauren came charging right for the flag. Kaidan lightly threw her back, and moved toward a defensive position. Lauren stumbled backwards, but quickly picked herself back up. She was close enough that Kaidan could see her nostrils flare and her teeth grit in anger. Then Kaidan found himself slamming against the wall behind him in a way that made him see stars. She wasn't using her full strength, he could tell, but she was using a good portion of it.

The collision with the wall caused Kaidan to drop his barrier and Lauren quickly took advantage of it, putting him in stasis and running to snatch his flag. The one thing Kaidan hated most was being helpless and watching her escape while he was in stasis was infuriating. As the stasis released, Lauren reached her base and Vyrnnus called the point for her. Kaidan knew he wouldn't let her off so easy the next time.

They returned to their starting positions, Kaidan taking his flag back to its stand. He was pissed. Not because she was a girl, or younger and smaller than he, but because he had allowed himself to be pushed around because of some misplaced pity he had for her. He turned to face her and this time his eyes snapped to life with electric blue.

"This time…no stasis," said Vyrnnus as he dropped his arm. Lauren came charging just like before, but this time Kaidan threw her to the ground much more forcefully and came toward her. Shaking her head, Lauren scrambled to stand up again, but Kaidan was right there and threw her again out of his way. She flew to the side, grunting as she landed. As Kaidan grabbed her flag, she ran and tackled him, putting her shoulder right into his stomach.

"Like hell I'm going to let you take this from me!" she hissed as she struggled to take the flag back. Her grip was surprisingly strong and Kaidan couldn't wrench himself free from beneath her. He twisted and turned his body to no avail.

He could feel Lauren's biotics pulsing through his own nervous system. When they had worked together, they felt cool and refreshing to him, but with her so angry and fighting against him, her dark energy felt like fire. His biotics had blended nicely with Rahna's when they touched, but now they boiled inside with an undeniable attraction. His brain felt like it was melting and lust suddenly surged in him as he struggled beneath Lauren. Kaidan knew he couldn't stay like this with her or he would have an extremely embarrassing situation occur.

Before he could muster enough power to overcome her, Lauren punched him in the face. In shock, Kaidan let go of the flag, but as she stood, he swung his leg out and tripped her. She crashed face first. Kaidan scooped the flag from the floor and took off for his base. "Son of a bitch!" Lauren screamed. Kaidan knew he could outrun her, but he didn't expect to be thrown from behind. He flipped in the air and landed hard on his back.

"Shit," he groaned and stood up slowly. He picked the flag back up and turned to see where Lauren was. She wasn't close enough to stop him from reaching his base and hoisting her flag triumphantly. Kaidan was about to tell her off when the tone sounded for first class. Vyrnnus approached them, clapping slowly. "I wondered if you two would be able to take on each other…competitively, and thankfully I was right. It took a bit, but you both channeled your anger into some fine biotic showing. Shepard, the punch, a nice touch. Hand-to-hand combat will come in handy one day. Alenko, you let her take advantage of you the first time, but I suppose you were just being a gentleman," he said sarcastically. "Gentlemen don't exist in battle. You may go."

They walked out, both with bloodied noses and emerging bruises. Kaidan was a few steps in front of Lauren and he could hear her breathing heavily behind him. He stopped and turned to block her way. "Hey," he said. "I'm sorry about Indira."

Lauren glared. "You don't need to be."

He took a step closer. "But I want to be." He leaned in to kiss her. He wanted to feel her fiery touch again. His lips met hers and she gasped. He caught just a brief flash of her biotics before he felt a sharp sting on his cheek as she slapped him and pulled away.

A feverish look was on her face. Kaidan couldn't tell what she was feeling. "I am _not _here for your fun. Don't toy with me," she said in a low, harsh tone as she pushed her way past him and walked away.

**A/N: Thank you for all the reviews and follows! You are awesome!**


	8. Spiraling Downward

Lauren took her free period to spend time with Indira. She walked into the infirmary and headed down the hall to where Indira's room was. As she opened the door, thinking she was probably sleeping when she heard the other girl's voice. "Hi Nanni! Daadi! I'm so glad to see you again!" Lauren peeked around the door to see an empty room, save Indira herself. The girl was sitting up, arms outstretched to no one.

"Indi?" Lauren said quietly.

"Hey Lauren! I'd like you to meet my grandparents." Indira gestured toward a blank wall. Lauren didn't know what to do, so she played along.

"Um, hello. It's nice to meet you," Lauren voiced to thin air. Looking back to Indira, she sighed. "Indi, has anyone said when you'll be able to leave? Come back to class with the rest of us?"

"Actually," Indira whispered, "I'm supposed to go home with my grandparents. They told me I had to leave Brain Camp. Whatever happened to me needs to be monitored, so they are sending me to a Conatix research facility back on Earth, near my home. I can't leave until the day after tomorrow, but I'm just glad that my grandparents arrived early!" She smiled again at the blank wall.

Lauren shifted uncomfortably. "Well, I don't have a lot of time today. I'll try to be back after dinner, ok? I think Kat will come as well. She said she was sorry that she hadn't visited you yet."

"That sounds so great," Indira grinned. "I'm going to miss you all like crazy when I'm gone."

Taking the girl's hand, Lauren gave a sad smile. "I'm going to miss you too. You have no idea."

Indira's grandparents did arrive on the day she was to leave. Lauren went to the loading dock early that morning to say a last goodbye. Just as she was giving Indira a long embrace, her datapad beeped and it was time to go beat up on Kaidan. She wasn't mad at him anymore. There was no point in that. He wanted Rahna and that was his right. Lauren didn't even care that he did.

As the weeks turned into months, she poured herself into training like the fierce biotic she knew she could be. Over time, her arms developed lean, defined muscles, her baby fat started to melt away, and she found she'd grown a few inches as well. She felt she was becoming more of an equal with Kaidan, at least mentally.

The actual fighting between the two of them continued. Vyrnnus quit bringing in adults, like he had for his previous war games, and only pitted them against each other. So, eventually, a silent agreement was made between Lauren and Kaidan. They agreed to put on a show for the turian every morning, but it was never like it was the first time, to Kaidan's disappointment. There was still fire in Lauren's eyes, but it wasn't burning against him like it had before. When they came in physical contact, there was only a tingling sense of biotics mixing. They would talk some, but after Indira left, Lauren's face set like stone. Kaidan never saw her smile or laugh. She was 100% business.

Kaidan's months drifted by in a thick, lovesick haze. He poured himself into the developing relationship he had with Rahna. He loved the way she was so gentle, so joyful. It was a refreshing break from the no-nonsense Lauren he had to endure every morning. In class, he would eye Vyrnnus and keep a protective arm around Rahna's shoulders. Outside of class, they would steal away every chance they had, and she was more than tolerant of his sometimes fumbling hands. Even better, she was encouraging him in his manual exploration. Rahna's dark eyes held so much promise, so much…_something_, that when they finally found themselves ready, Kaidan felt no hesitation. He could hear her gasps of pleasure echoing in his mind and taste her warmth on his lips long after they had re-clothed and hurried to class.

Every so often though, he found himself thinking of Lauren. He chalked it up to seeing her every morning and the constant close proximity they were required to have. But it was on more than one occasion when Kaidan's mind took him from the very real Rahna in his arms to the girl whose touch was once like fire. As much as he hated to admit it, he longed to feel it again.

Vyrnnus became more hard-edged, if that were possible. He became even less tolerant of failure and started demanding that even menial tasks be completed using biotics. Frustration ran high among all the teens at Brain Camp. It was about 10 months in that they heard about the first death. It was a girl, 16, one of the lower powered biotics. She was putting a heavy conduit into place on a wall that was meant to simulate a ship's engine, when her biotics failed. The gear came crashing down on her body, killing her instantly. Her gruesome death set off several of the students that had seen it. Soon they were exhibiting wild, uncontrollable biotic flares along with mental breakdowns that the infirmary had a hard time helping them recover from.

The adults tried to quell the gossip, but it was a losing battle. All of the unaffected students had seen, in one place or another, one of the grieving students fly off the handle. In the room where they had cooking class, a large ventilation pipe went along the ceiling. Lauren was watching the protein goop they were teaching her to make congeal when a guy in her class started screaming.

"It's going to fall! Everyone, hold it up or it will crush you!" The boy's skin blazed blue and he looked to be using his lift power on the ventilation pipe, which was quite secure. The boy's wild eyes were watery and his body was shaking. "I won't let any of you die!" he shouted.

The teacher quietly called for security and soon there were a couple burly men trying to calm the boy down. "I saw her die! No one did anything! We just stood there! I saw her die, you sons of bitches! You just carted her off like some trash!" He turned toward the men menacingly. "You won't take me out like you did her!" He threw the men back. The teacher ordered the other students to evacuate the class. Lauren, who didn't have a clear path to the door, ducked behind the stove.

She peeked around the side to see the boy, his nose now bleeding profusely from his biotic use. She knew if she could get close enough that she could probably put him in stasis and stop the confrontation. As she was moving toward him, she bumped a chair, knocking it over. The noise made the boy turn and when he did, one of the men tackled him awkwardly. The skinny teen was no match for the man, and Lauren heard a snap as the pair hit the floor.

The man stood up, looking down at the boy's now too still body. "Oh shit," Lauren heard him say. She rose and her eyes met the man's. He eyed her cautiously. "It was self-defense," he said to Lauren as an order, more than a defense. "He wouldn't calm down and he was endangering both of us and you." She nodded mutely.

Lauren was taken, along with the rest of her class, to some counselors to discuss what had happened, but the rest of class hadn't seen the boy die. Lauren kept a distrustful silence. She answered direct questions carefully, measuring each word so they couldn't see through her front. More and more, she was coming to the realization that Brain Camp wasn't about helping biotic humans reach their full potential as much as it was keeping them under control and fearful. She needed to see if anyone else shared her suspicions.

Sitting at lunch alone and not eating, Lauren glanced at the other teens around her. She had kept to herself so much that she hardly knew anyone by name. She saw Kat, but from the carefree look in her eyes, she doubted Kat would take her seriously. _She couldn't have seen the nasty side of this place like I have._ Beside her sat Rahna. She would know that Vyrnnus was an ass, but not to the same extent as…_Kaidan._

Kaidan would know. He said he would have her back. Lauren needed to see if that was really true.

**A/N: Thank you to all the new followers, favorites and reviews! I do happy dances when I see them!**


	9. Secret Mission

**Meet me at this navpoint at 0000. –L**

That's all the message said. Kaidan was curious. They weren't supposed to be out of their bunks after 2300 and before 0500. He knew if they got caught they'd get into trouble, probably pretty severely too, if Vyrnnus' attitude of late was any indicator. The location she had picked was pretty secure with only one way in and out. He had been there before with Rahna.

Kaidan lay down on his bunk and listened to Jason curse and bluster about an argument he had had with Kat. "You sound like an old man fighting with his old lady," Kaidan chuckled.

Jason stopped and laughed. "God, I never thought I'd get caught up like this with a girl. It's like she knows me. It's fucking freaky. I mean, like you and Rahna, she gets you, doesn't she?"

Kaidan sat up and bit his lower lip. "Sometimes. Yeah."

"Alenko, you need to start talking, man. A girl as fine as that…the rest of us would like to know about it," Jason winked.

"A gentleman doesn't kiss and tell…or anything else," Kaidan said cryptically.

Jason threw a pillow at him. "You are no fun."

"What time is it?"

"Almost midnight. Why? You gonna get a little somethin' on the downlow?" Jason asked.

"No, I'm supposed to meet Lauren Shepard."

Jason's jaw dropped. "You mean that chick that you fight with? Holy shit, Alenko, you are more of a man than I thought you were! Two babes at the same time!" Jason got onto his knees in mock worship.

Kaidan scoffed. "It isn't like that. She's more like a coworker. Not even really a friend, let alone…"

"She's a girl. You can bang her," Jason interrupted. "100 credits says she wants you. She's just waiting on you to show up."

"I already tried. Months ago. I kissed her. She…she just glared at me and walked away."

Jason's mouth now formed an "o." "Well, maybe she's just into girls. Sorry, man. Ouch."

"Eh, whatever. I have to go," Kaidan said quietly as he used his omni-tool to hack the door open.

Kaidan walked quickly and softly in his sock feet so he wouldn't make any noise in the metallic hallways. He knew he shouldn't be doing this, but curiosity had him, as well as more than a little primal interest, now that Jason had brought that subject back to the surface.

He rounded the corner to the dead end corridor Lauren had picked. She was crouched behind a crate and peeked out just briefly enough to motion him to come over. She was wearing a loose tank top and a tiny pair of shorts. Kaidan wasn't trying to, but thanks to Jason, he was seeing Lauren through a different pair of eyes. His gaze lingered for a quick moment on the subtle curve of her breasts and moved down to appreciate her long lean legs.

He moved in close beside her, allowing his hand to brush not completely unintentionally against her thigh. His implant site tingled, but Lauren's look was serious so Kaidan tried to push his straying thoughts aside. "What's going on? You know we can get our asses ripped for this," Kaidan whispered.

Lauren wasn't immune to Kaidan's proximity either. She had heard him speak, but her eyes only saw his full lips move. It took a minute for the sound to register in her brain. She shook her head and looked at him directly. "I don't think this place is as much a great place for us as they want us to believe."

"I don't understand," said Kaidan.

"I don't really have anything to back it up. Just call it a gut feeling. Something isn't right about this place," explained Lauren. "I mean, it's like I _know_ the military, and that's where Vyrnnus says we're going to end up, right? This isn't anything like the military. They are tough, for sure, but complete mental intimidation isn't the Alliance's way."

"Yeah, I guess so. I never knew you were a military brat. I am too."

Lauren smiled. "Navy?"

"Yeah," replied Kaidan. "My dad."

"Mine too. Spacer or groundside?"

"Some space before I was born. Local though. Luna, Mars." Kaidan cleared his throat before he continued. "You know, you should smile more often. It looks nice."

"Uh, thanks, I guess." Lauren blushed and quickly moved on. "Anyway, I had to tell you about this because I didn't think anyone else would believe me. The way they treated Indi…they sent her to another Conatix facility on Earth. It's like we're being sequestered."

"Did you ever think that they are studying us?" Kaidan offered. "I mean, we are a new type of human. We don't know what will happen to us because of our exposure."

"I get that. I don't know…maybe I just read too much history, but it just reminds me of slavery. Instead of being the best of humanity, it's like we are a sub-species. Animals instead of people."

"Guess I never thought of it like that. So, what are you going to do about it?"

Lauren crooked her mouth to the side in thought. "I need to find more information, something to back this up. Find out why."

"Ok, how?" Kaidan said with an amused smile on his face.

"Well, that's where you'll come in. Can you hack? You said you were good with tech stuff."

Scratching his neck, Kaidan demurred. "I'm ok. Their terminals are probably pretty well protected here."

"I know," Lauren grinned. "That's why we have our biotics. Vyrnnus was the idiot who taught us how to fight."

"So what's Plan B? What if we get caught?" Kaidan was growing concerned at Lauren's brazen attitude.

"We'll start a riot. There's more of us than them."

"Are you sure…"

"No, I'm not sure, but we've got no other options and I want off this shitty station. I'm sure as hell not going to let them make me some kind of mindless laborer. Or soldier. I do things because I want to."

"Ok, I'm with you. When do we start?"

"Tomorrow during our free period." Lauren grabbed his hand. "I can trust you, right? You won't rat me out. I'm doing this for everyone."

Kaidan gave her hand a squeeze. "I've got your back, Lauren."

x-X-x

When free period came, Lauren waited in the same corridor for Kaidan to arrive. A few minutes ticked by and Lauren started to get worried. _Was he not going to come? Was he going to squeal after all?_ Her breathing started to quicken and she could feel her heart start pounding with anxiety. Maybe she was just being paranoid anyway. It could just be all in her head.

Lauren was standing up to leave when she bumped into Kaidan. "Hey," he said quietly as she pulled him down behind the crate. "Sorry about being late. I got caught up with Rahna. She wanted…uh, to talk. I had to make something up to get away. I'm a terrible liar."

"Never mind about her. I was thinking that we should go to where they store their comm logs. Something has to be in there that would say what the hell this whole place is about."

"And you know where this is?" Kaidan wondered what Lauren did when he wasn't around.

"I think. The adults have a section of the station where the doors are locked unless they walk near. It won't open for one of us. I know you can hack doors. This one might be a little tougher than our bunkroom doors."

"All right, let's go. You lead," said Kaidan.

"We'll just walk like any other couple, ok? Put your arm around me…the adults will just think we're trying to find a secret place to mess around."

Kaidan awkwardly wrapped his arm around Lauren. He felt her snuggle against his chest. Her hair was very close to his nose and he could smell the coconut shampoo that she used. The tingle in his implant site returned at the feel of her touch. He didn't want Rahna to see them, so he hoped this place was far from the cafeteria.

They walked cozily down a few corridors that Kaidan had never been into before. They got more than a few knowing looks from the adults they passed along the way. At first, Lauren had casually held his hand that was on her shoulder, but then she let it go and wrapped her own arm around Kaidan's waist, sticking her fingers through one of his belt loops. This was not what he was expecting, and as much as he hated to admit it, he liked it.

Suddenly, Lauren stopped and placing both of her hands on his hips, turned to face him. She quickly took a few steps back into another dead end corridor and pulled Kaidan with her by his belt loops. He was caught off-guard by the abrupt move and he stumbled a bit, hitting her forehead with his chin. He recovered quickly by using his arms to brace himself against the crate behind Lauren.

Her hands were still on his waist and his arms were keeping her close to him. She looked into his amber brown eyes and felt her breath catch. Kaidan felt his own breath turn shallow as he noticed the gray blue hue of her eyes. He felt a fiery shock through his nervous system, just like he had felt from her before. But as quickly as it came, it stopped and Lauren moved herself from between his arms.

"You need to hack that door," she said as she cleared her throat.

Kaidan nodded wordlessly and opened his omni-tool, a contraband piece of equipment on Jump Zero. He made quick work of the lock and the panel turned green. The two walked in quickly and the door locked behind them.

"Where do we go now?" Kaidan whispered.

"I think this way," said Lauren, as she turned a corner.

Lauren watched their front while Kaidan kept his eyes behind them, and they soon arrived at another doorway.

"How did you know this is the room?"

"I have my ways," said Lauren as she opened the door quietly.

No one was in the room filled with large servers and a couple open terminals. Lauren directed Kaidan over to the closest one. "Scan it. See if you can find anything of interest…like comms about eezo exposure and starting this place."

Kaidan started running through files and logs. His tool pinged several things, which he quickly downloaded. "We'll have to read them later. We've got to do this quick and get out of here."

"Right," Lauren said as she stepped by the door to keep watch. "Are you done yet?"

"Yeah," he said, closing his tool. "Let's go."

**A/N: Thank you for all the new favorites and follows! I plan this story to go on for a couple more chapters...and I may, at tccarty's suggestion, start a new ME novelization with this Shenko pair. Please review!**


	10. BAaT's Real Purpose

"We'll have to find time later to go through this stuff," said Kaidan as he and Lauren stood nonchalantly in a busy corridor. "I only saw some things briefly, but I think you are on to something."

"I knew it," Lauren breathed. "Tonight? After dinner hour, during free time?"

A worried look crossed Kaidan's face. "I don't know. I have…plans with Rahna. I'll try. I'll message you if I can, ok?"

With pursed lips, Lauren acknowledged. "The sooner, the better," she said and walked away.

x-X-x

"So what's going on between you and Lauren?" Rahna asked, with only genuine curiosity in her voice.

Kaidan coughed on the bite he was chewing. "Nothing. Why?"

Rahna smiled and took his hand. "Oh, Kat said that Jason said you two met up after lights out."

Swallowing hard, he squeezed Rahna's hand. "Don't worry about that. She wanted my help with a project. Part of the crap Vyrnnus has us do. She's a procrastinator."

"Tell me about it!" the girl laughed. "Last week, I had to help her learn how to put together a survival shelter from trees and leaves, _in one night_! Lauren was like, 'There's no point to this. This isn't realistic. What if I crash on a snowy planet?' I just laughed at her. If she doesn't want to do it, she just doesn't…until she finds out she has no other choice!"

Kaidan laughed at Rahna's spot-on impression of Lauren and inwardly let out a sigh of relief. She didn't need to know what was going on. He wouldn't let anything happen to her that could shatter their happiness.

"Rahna, the project is due tomorrow," Kaidan said slowly. "I know we had plans tonight, but I sort of feel like I should help Lauren with this."

"Aww, Kaidan. I was really looking forward to tonight," Rahna said in a voice that sent a rush of desire through his body. Her fingers laced with his and she rubbed her foot up the inside of his leg. _God, she's beautiful,_ he thought.

He took a deep breath to calm himself down. "Believe me, Rahna; I want to be with you. There's nothing I'd rather do, but I really should do this. It's just tonight."

"Ok," Rahna mock pouted. "I guess the waiting will make it even better."

"That's exactly what I was thinking." Kaidan stood up and gave Rahna a kiss on the forehead. "Thank you."

Giggling, Rahna tried to have a serious tone. "You owe me, Kaidan Alenko."

Kaidan pulled out his datapad from his back pocket as he left the cafeteria. He typed in a quick message.

**I'm free tonight. Where and when? –K**

Lauren's response was nearly instantaneous.

**Same place. 1830. I think we'll have a lot to look at. –L**

x-X-x

Sitting in class while Vyrnnus extolled the virtues of biotic warp fields, Kaidan's mind was wandering. His arm was around Rahna, since no one seemed to mind them scooting their desks close together, but he was unconsciously watching Lauren. His rational mind was fighting with a part of him he hadn't really explored before.

_Rahna, she was kind, warm, lovely, open and safe. She was the kind of girl you take home to your parents and they love her. She really was everything he could want in a woman. In a wife, if he were to really think that far ahead. She would be patient and tolerant. He already knew she was a gentle lover. She was a stable force for a long-lasting relationship. He should want that._

_Lauren was volatile, impulsive, emotionally distant, and fearless. She would be the one who would intentionally pick a fight over politics with your outspoken uncle just to rile him up. She'd be the one who would tear you to pieces over a trivial argument, but she'd probably make love just as fiercely. It would be a relationship that would never be dull, but would ultimately be short-lived, like a fireworks show. He shouldn't want that, but maybe it was because he couldn't have it that he did._

The tone sounded and everyone stood up to leave, knocking Kaidan from his thoughts. "Come on, sleepy," Rahna teased. "I thought you were going to doze off right there in front of Vyrnnus!"

"Yeah," Kaidan yawned. He stretched his arms out as he stood, reaching for Rahna and pulling her close. "I'm really glad I met you." He wanted his rational mind to win, so he would force it to.

She smiled broadly and placed a soft kiss on his lips. "Me too. I've never met a guy as kind and gentle as you. Most guys are posturing peacocks. I'd rather have one to take care of me."

"That's why I'm here, Rahna."

x-X-x

Kaidan arrived at the meeting place first and took a seat on the floor behind a crate. He opened his omni-tool and started looking at the files he had downloaded. He hadn't realized Brain Camp had been in operation for so long. "Eight years?" he whispered to himself. "They were bringing in kids…"

"What do you mean kids?" Lauren asked as she squeezed in between Kaidan and the wall.

"This file here," Kaidan read. "BAaT was founded in 2160 to start developing implants for biotics, but they didn't start bringing in anyone for training until 2163 when they developed the L1. They were placed in kids as young as 9. Oh God, it gets worse…" His voice faded out as he became more engrossed in what was on his tool's screen.

"I see it…," said Lauren solemnly. "'The L1 was a monumental failure with 90% of the subjects implanted exhibiting severe side effects, like severe migraines, mental illness, uncontrollable biotic flare-ups that eventually degraded the subjects' nervous systems to nonfunctionality. The other 10% didn't survive the initial procedure. Death rate within 3 months: 100%. Conatix agrees to covertly orchestrate drive core failures around Earth to expose more of the population and gain more potential biotic subjects for study.'"

Lauren fell back against the wall. "Holy shit. So these guys screwed up royally and kids died for it? And those drive core failures…I remember hearing about them. But why?"

"Here's something else," Kaidan pointed. "'To Earth ambassadors' it says. 'Convince the parents that BAaT is what is best for their child. Emphasize the potential danger biotic power imposes to the general population and their child. Remind them that the long-term effects still aren't known and it is likely their lifespans will be shorter. BAaT will allow them to learn control and become productive members of society for the time they have. Allow them to believe that their children can be a part of the normal population eventually.'"

"Ok, so they think we're freaks and want our parents to think the same thing. What's the point in all of this? Is there anything earlier?" Lauren wondered.

"I don't know. It had to start somewhere." Kaidan started tapping at his tool. "This one looks interesting. 'Superhuman abilities from eezo exposure.' It's a study from observing turians and asari with biotic abilities. Here's the summary. 'It is the opinion of the authors that eezo exposure to humans could result in the birth of a new superhuman with telekinetic abilities. These abilities could be fully utilized in industrial and military capacities, making for production efficiency increased and countless lives saved. These superhumans, or biotics, could be used as tools for the most dangerous operations sparingly because of their exponential might. The authors recommend the asari method of using biotic amplifiers to even further increase the strength of human biotics. However, physiologies differ enough that human tests must be conducted to find compatible technology.' The authors are from Conatix."

Lauren scratched her head. "Care to speak plain English? That went completely over my head."

"It means that Conatix wanted to create biotics to be used to save everyone else from dangerous occupations. Like our lives aren't worth as much." Kaidan looked up at Lauren. "You were right. They are training us to be slaves, easily sacrificed for everyone else."

"Fuck. Bastards." Lauren saw something on Kaidan's screen that caught her attention. "What's that about Vyrnnus? Open it."

"'Vyrnnus, a biotic turian, has been contracted to work for BAaT,'" Kaidan read slowly. "It says here 'his methods are effective, if not heavy-handed. Conatix researchers believe a biotic population heavily intimidated will be easier to control and move into the hazardous positions they can best be utilized.' So we're fucking tools."

"Yeah," said Lauren angrily. "We have to get out of here…get everyone out of here. This has got to stop! You know that, right, Kaidan?"

Kaidan shook his head. "We owe it to those kids."

"You owe those kids nothing," a multi-tonal voice sounded. "Did you two think you could get into the comm logs and not get caught?"

Kaidan and Lauren stood and saw Vyrnnus standing at the end of the corridor. "Fuck," Kaidan heard Lauren whisper.

Vyrnnus strode over to the pair. "Oh, you are both damn lucky. If I had my way, I'd blast you out the airlock right this minute. But to Conatix, you are both extremely valuable. That doesn't mean I cannot punish you. From now on, you two can no longer associate. I'll see to that personally. If I find that you tell anyone about what you've found, you will be out the airlock, Conatix be damned."

The turian wrenched the omni-tool from Kaidan's arm. "I'll be taking this as well." Behind Vyrnnus, a couple well-armed adults appeared. "Take these two to a solitary confinement room for the night. Then tomorrow morning, well, let's just say your training just became more personal."

x-X-x

Lauren stalked about in the confinement room. There was a bed, a blanket, a toilet and a sink. The guards even took her datapad. "Fucking bastards. YOU CAN'T KEEP ME IN THIS HELL!" she screamed at the door. She pounded it until her fists were raw. She knew it was late and that she should sleep, but her mind was whirling with the information she and Kaidan had discovered. _There has to be a way to shut this place down._

x-X-x

Kaidan sat quietly on the bed in his confinement room. He was trying not to see the inevitability of what was to come. He pictured Rahna, older and exhausted from being forced to move large pieces of materials for building ships or skyscrapers. He saw himself being forced into military suicide missions alone because of his biotic barrier that would supposedly keep him alive long enough to accomplish his task. He couldn't see Lauren in the future. She wouldn't let that happen to her. She'd probably kill herself first…and take as many people as she could with her.

x-X-x

Right on the nose, Lauren was wakened by a pounding on the door at 5 a.m. "Shepard! Get your ass out of bed. Vyrnnus wants to see you now." The guard opened the door and handed Lauren her datapad. "Get moving…oh, and your little friend has been blocked from your messaging system too."

Arriving at the room marked on her pad, she saw it was just Vyrnnus. Kaidan wasn't there this time. "Miss Shepard," the turian said sarcastically. "I think it's time I took you down a peg or two." He walked closer, and Lauren's biotics flared. Vyrnnus just laughed. "Stupid human. I have twice the strength as you, physically and biotically." He threw Lauren against the wall. She started to get up, but was stopped by a punch in the face from a taloned fist. "I'll teach you to get sneaky and try to be anything more than the slave mercenary you were born to be." He hit her again. She felt blood running from her nose and into her eye.

He grabbed her right arm and twisted it. She screamed in pain as she felt her shoulder joint give way. As quickly as it had started, it ended. Vyrnnus took a step back from the battered Lauren, her arm turned awkwardly. "Get to the infirmary. Have your wounds tended to. Don't cross me again."

x-X-x

Kaidan walked in to see Vyrnnus with a pleased look on his face. "Alenko, I know you were not the instigator in this little escapade. For that, I'm letting you off easier. I broke your friend's arm and she knows not to circumvent my authority again. Your omni-tool has been destroyed and you will spend the rest of your days here being monitored 24 hours a day. Watch your communications or you can meet a similar fate as she. Now get out of my face before I change my mind."

Kaidan pinched his nose in frustration and worry. He was stuck. They were stuck. He was out of options.

**A/N: A little shout out to Blinkdawg for catching an error in my writing! And to Guest, there's always been an attraction between Lauren and Kaidan and that will continue into their military careers. But things will have to happen in between, so we'll see!**


	11. Shutting BAaT Down

Vyrnnus had stopped her completely, and anger flowed through Lauren like hot lava. She knew she couldn't lash out or one of the guns held by the guards accompanying her would be used without hesitation. Still, her body glowed with biotic power from her fury as she was brought to the infirmary.

The medical staff that came to see her wasn't nearly as friendly as the ones she had seen take care of Indi. They brought her in to what looked like an operating room. "Lie down on the bed," a man ordered. When she complied, they tied her down in restraints, pulling her dislocated shoulder hard. She cried out in pain.

"This won't take long," the man said, putting a mask on Lauren's face. Everything went black.

x-X-x

"Kaidan, where are you?" Rahna said, waving her hand in front of his face.

His dark brow furrowed. "I'm sorry, Rahna. It's hard to explain. I'm just…worried."

She took his hand with one of hers and stroked his arm with the other. "I'm right here. I'm listening," she said softly.

Kaidan let out a deep sigh. "It's about Lauren."

"Yeah, I can't believe she got hurt. It was wrong when Indi left, but now with two bunks in our room empty…it's depressing."

"So they told you she got hurt?" he asked, reaching down to scratch at the cuff they had put on his ankle to keep track of his movements. He was glad the pants covered them. He couldn't explain that away to Rahna.

"Well, in so many words," she said. "We all got a message on our datapads the other day saying she would be staying in the infirmary for the near future while she recovered from a separated shoulder, but that she could not have visitors."

"Nothing else? Nothing on how it happened?"

Rahna shook her head. "No, and I didn't really think about it. I figured Lauren was doing what she does when she's alone and fell or something."

"I wish it were just that," lamented Kaidan.

"Why? What happened? I didn't know you knew. Were you there?"

"Uh, no…" Kaidan paused because he didn't want to say too much. He leaned in to whisper as quietly as he could, looking around the room while he spoke. "It was just a special training session with Vyrnnus that got out of hand. He hurt her." Kaidan closed his mouth hoping that he covered the truth with just enough of a lie that she wouldn't get suspicious.

Rahna instead clutched Kaidan's arm tightly. "On purpose? I knew that he was acting grouchier than usual, but I didn't think anything like this would happen."

"It won't happen again. Don't worry." Kaidan leaned in to kiss Rahna's cheek. "I hope this was just a one-time thing."

"You won't let him hurt me, right?"

"Never."

x-X-x

When Lauren woke, she found herself completely isolated from the rest of the students at Brain Camp while she recovered from the injuries Vyrnnus inflicted. After about two weeks, her face had healed with only a scar on her forehead remaining. Her shoulder was put back into socket and surgically repaired, but it remained painful and stiff. It also took about that entire time for her to figure out that instead of the biotic amp that she had had in her neck, there was a dampener. She barely had the power to lift the blanket on her bed. There was no way she could fight her way out now.

x-X-x

Vyrnnus was standing in the classroom a week later, eyeing Kaidan as Lauren entered and took a seat on the other side of the room. Rahna shifted excitedly in her seat when she saw the girl. "Oh! I'm so glad Lauren is back! Come with me and say hi."

Kaidan gave a quick shake of his head, nervously catching Vyrnnus' gaze. "I don't need to. She cares more about seeing you. You're her better friend."

As Rahna stood and ambled over, his eyes shot to Lauren. She gave him an almost imperceptible head lift. Then Lauren's face quickly changed to a bright smile as Rahna leaned in for a tight hug. From the look in her eyes Kaidan knew they hadn't broken Lauren Shepard.

That evening, as Kaidan sat with Rahna in the lounge, her datapad beeped. "Oh, hey, Kaidan…it's a message from Lauren. She wants to talk for a bit." Rahna got up and giggled. "I don't know why she had to message me. She's just over there. Weird."

Leaning back in the couch, Kaidan watched the girls chat. Then Vyrnnus walked in, which Kaidan thought unusual because he was never with the students during their evening free time. He turned his head, so he could only see the girls talking in the very corner of his eye. As Vyrnnus strolled around the room, giving curt nods to the students who greeted him, he kept his own eyes on Lauren and Rahna.

Rahna started to cough and she stood up to get the bottle of water she had left on the floor beside the couch where Kaidan sat. Trying to speak as she coughed and laughed, she said to Kaidan. "I don't know…what…happened…something caught…in my throat." She bent over, grabbed the bottle and raised it to her mouth to take a drink. Vyrnnus exploded. "NO!" Rahna stopped and looked at him, eyes wide in fear.

"You could have easily lifted that bottle!" he hollered at he took several large steps to yell in the girl's face, that was now teary. "You don't need to use your stupid arm!" And on the last word, he grabbed Rahna's arm and pulled, cracking the bones in her forearm from the force. She shrieked under the pain, crumpling to the ground, as Kaidan shot to his feet. The rest of the room was silent as the other students, including Lauren, watched.

Kaidan stood toe to toe with Vyrnnus. "You son-of-a-bitch! You can't touch her!" he yelled. "You _know_ you can't fucking touch any of us!" The turian's eyes flashed in acknowledgement, and he started to turn away. Kaidan eased for just a second, as Vyrnnus quickly turned back, giving the boy a hard backhand to the face.

"You, my boy, are expendable." The turian's voice was a low growl. Kaidan couldn't take any more, he knew he had to do something or this was only going to get worse. He threw a punch at the turian's neck, the one soft spot he could see. It connected and Vyrnnus gave out a hiss. A three fingered hand grabbed Kaidan's arm. With his other hand, Vyrnnus punched Kaidan's face, causing blood to gush from his nose.

Students were screaming and leaving the room en masse as Kaidan and Vyrnnus fought. Only Rahna and Lauren remained; Rahna because she had no escape route and Lauren because she wanted a chance to get a crack on Vyrnnus. As Lauren was readying herself to take out Vyrnnus' legs while he was engaged with Kaidan, quick as a flash, he pulled a knife, holding it to Kaidan's neck.

The turian sneered at Lauren. "You thought you had me, didn't you? Now your friend is going to die and no one will believe a word you say. You can't control your fate. You never will be worth anything. Human biotics are only made for…" Vyrnnus was cut off as Kaidan had gotten free and, glowing biotically, threw a kick at the turian's face. A sickening thud and snap could be heard as Vyrnnus hit the wall. He took several rattling breaths and was still, a trickle of blue blood running from his nose and mouth.

Lauren rushed to the turian. "Oh my God, Kaidan. I think he's dead."

Kaidan was breathing hard from the exertion and his dark energy was beginning to subside. He moved toward where Rahna was curled up, sobbing loudly. "Hey, Rahna, it's ok. He's not going to hurt you again."

Rahna's red eyes look at Kaidan in fear. "How do I know _you_ aren't going to hurt me? You _killed_ him! I've got to get out of here! I need to go! Just…just stay away." The girl ran out of the room. Kaidan blinked in confusion. "I-I thought…I don't know." He looked at Vyrnnus. "What have I done?" he hissed to Lauren.

"Something that had to be done, Kaidan."

x-X-x

Everything moved quickly from that moment on. Parents, grandparent, and caregivers were contacted. The students were coming home immediately due to some problems at the BAaT facility. Details were not specified in the messages home. The adults hurried the students on the station to pack quickly and within a few hours, the first shuttles were headed back to Earth.

Kaidan and Lauren were ushered into an isolation room together. They were both quiet, occupied in their thoughts. "Look, there's a message telling everyone to pack. They are shipping us out," she said, holding her datapad and finally breaking the silence. "We need to make sure they don't open this place back up."

"I've done enough," Kaidan's voice strained. "I'm not doing anything anymore. You're on your own."

"I'm glad you did it. He didn't give you a choice. I would have done the same thing, you know."

"I was just trying to protect her…"

Lauren moved to sit beside him. "And you did! You protected all of us in that room."

"I lost control. I just snapped."

"Sometimes you have to do the right thing, regardless of the consequences."

Her words were not soothing to Kaidan's anguished mind. "What do I tell my folks? Their son is a murderer!"

"Kaidan!" Lauren said forcefully, grabbing his shoulder. "No. You are a fucking hero. You stood up for Rahna. She's lucky to have you."

Kaidan looked up, irritated. "Why did they bring you in here anyway?"

"Probably because I was the only one left in the room with you…and I'm already pegged as trouble."

"Rahna's gone," said Kaidan unexpectedly.

"What do you mean?"

He pulled the datapad out of his pocket. "I've been messaging her ever since we got in here. She hasn't answered."

"Maybe she's busy."

"No. She's actually gone, as in off the station. The last message I sent bounced back saying she was no longer on Gagarin Station."

"I'm still here," Lauren said softly. She debated in her mind a moment, then wrapped her arms around him. "I've got your back."

Kaidan's arms responded, winding slowly around Lauren. "Thanks," was his hoarse reply.

**A/N: Thank you all for the reviews, follows and favorites! There will be one more chapter, an epilogue.**


	12. Going Home

It was a quiet ride back to Earth. Lauren sat mindlessly chewing a fingernail. Kaidan sat next to her, hands folded, trying to sleep and failing. No other students rode in the shuttle with the pair, but a couple of Conatix executives as well as a few guards were riding along in another section of the small ship.

"So what are you going to do now?" said Kaidan, as he opened his eyes in defeat.

"Well," started Lauren, "first, I'm telling the world what a scam Conatix is. Then, I'm probably going to have to go back to school. Still have a couple years left. But as soon as I'm 18, I'm enlisting with the Alliance."

Kaidan turned, his face registering shock. "You're kidding, right? After all that hell, you are going into the military?"

"I'm not doing it because I'm some mindless biotic automaton," huffed Lauren. "I'm going in because it is a Shepard tradition. We serve because we want to. My dad does, my mom does, most of my grandparents and great grandparents did."

"I guess," Kaidan said skeptically. "I'm staying as far the hell away from the military as I can. Maybe I'll go to university and be the doctor my mom always wanted me to be. Actually help people…like us. I'd rather heal than…than kill." The last words out of Kaidan's mouth were choked with emotion. "I'm not that kind of a person, am I?" His eyes searched Lauren's for answers.

Lauren crinkled her brow sadly. "No, you're not. But I'm afraid you won't believe me or anyone else."

"You know…no one even said if I'm going to be facing criminal charges for this. Oh God…this is a fucking nightmare." He buried his face in his hands.

Lauren sighed, not knowing what to say or do. She really didn't know what she would do if she were in his position. The depths of her mind secretly relished the fact that Vyrnnus was dead, but she didn't think anyone would understand that.

The ship landed at the O'Hare Spaceport in Chicago. "Shepard. It's time to go," a man's stern voice commanded. She stood and grabbing her duffel started to walk away. "Hey Kaidan," she said, pulling out her datapad. "Maybe we can keep in touch?"

"Yeah, that'd be nice," he answered in a noncommittal tone. "Here's my info." He tapped a button that transmitted his personal information. "I'll get a new omni-tool one of these days. Maybe we can talk."

"Sure," said Lauren. "Whatever happens, it was nice knowing you. You'll always be a good guy to me." And she stepped out of the shuttle.

The End


	13. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

-Indira did go to the Conatix facility in New Delhi, but when BAaT's true mission was compromised by the testimony of a few anonymous biotic students, she was released to her grandparents. Her mind was never quite right after the biotic break on Jump Zero. When she was 20, the ghosts in her mind overcame her and she tossed herself from a bridge, dying instantly. Her grandparents started a small foundation in her honor for other L2s who suffered from the worst side effects.

-Kathryn and Jason ended up staying together after leaving Brain Camp. He convinced her to return to his family farm in Nebraska, and they quickly married and started a family. Kathryn had always been a city girl, but found she loved the open spaces of country living. Jason, always the man's man, loved showing off for his wife and soon enough for his four children. When Earth was attacked by the Reapers, over a decade later, he enlisted and became a posthumous hero for holding off a battalion of husks that were bearing down on Chicago. Kathryn, now widowed, took on the family farm with her in-laws and children.

-Rahna returned to her family in Turkey and enrolled in a university, majoring in education. While there, she met a psychology professor and she dropped out of school to marry him. Together, they had one child after a long time of dealing with infertility. When the Reapers invaded Earth, she was at work in her husband's office, her baby in a playpen beside her. The Reaper ship landed right on the building, crushing the three of them, as well as thousands of others in the skyscraper.

-As for Lauren and Kaidan…they will have their own story to come, so stay tuned!

**A/N: I know the epilogue isn't a happy one. I did not feel that survivors would be common after the Reaper attack. Thank you all so much for reading this and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did! -Angsty**


End file.
